Wednesday, October 16, 2013

95 Theses for Christian Racial & Ethnic Unity: #80

[I]n the discussions of race, for those
of us born after the Civil Rights Movement, the discussion is focused, not so
much on reconciling past oppression, pain, tensions, and grievances, as on
moving forward—putting on display before a watching world how the gospel
creates the platform for racial solidarity (Galatians 3:28) . . . . I am
convinced that the church will be able to lead society on race only if it moves
beyond reconciliation and pursues racial solidarity, which means embracing our
common human dignity (Genesis 1:26-28) as a human family in ways that celebrate
and respect differences between ethnic communities for the common good. This
goes beyond the failed concept of “colorblindness” and recognizes the
importance of racial, ethnic, and ideological differences as a catalyst for
loving our neighbors well (Matthew 22:36-40; John 17). I believe that racial
reconciliation has largely failed . . . for four reasons:

1.Racial
reconciliation fails to interrogate white privilege.

2.Racial
reconciliation often advances according to the limitations of white social
norms.

3.Racial
reconciliation does not advance or advocate whites submitting to minorities in
authority.

Moving
forward, if Christianity is to put the difference the gospel makes in
relationships on display in our American churches, colleges, and seminaries,
then we need a racial solidarity movement that seeks to do at least the
following:

1.Situate
discussions of race within an understanding of white privilege.

2.Advance
racial solidarity in ways that do not require minorities to conform to white
evangelical cultural norms.

3.Understand
that multiethnicity is not necessarily progress.

4.Develop
leaders who are not white males.

5.Recognize
the necessity and importance of homogenous ethnic churches because of the
reality of white dominance in American society.